The good news is that games, so often maligned, have much to offer ourcomplex world. And not just so-called “serious games” with explicit edu-cational goals, but any game.
Games are ancient and primal. You can find games in every culture and games are used to teach all ages in a fun and interactive way. There is a lot to offer from gamifying and I believe it is the new frontier of endless possibilities and creations.
Systems only become meaningfulas they are inhabited, explored, and manipulated by people.
This is why it is important to introduce gaming into our education system so that it becomes part of the culture. Gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry that it is a major part of American culture outside of the classroom. Students need to be met where their interests are in order to increase engagement. Gaming is a sound fit for this to occur.
Playing a game well to see which strategies are moreeffective, analyzing the game’s rules to see how they ramify into a player’sexperience, and designing a game by playtesting, modifying the rules, andplaytesting again, are all examples of how games naturally and powerfullylend themselves to systems literacy.
Similar to teaching a lesson in the classroom, game design requires innovation, feedback and modifying so that the best lesson is taught.
real- world sit-uations and testing their validity.
This reminded me of a student led organized protest on gun violence two years ago. Students learned about the First Amendment and the right to protest and literally applied their knowledge to the real-world to test its validity.
learner life-world experience:
I think it is absolutely vital to make learning in the classroom apply to the outside world. Not only does this prepare students for the future, but it increases engagement and is relevant to their lives.
plan the sequence carefully.
I think there always needs to be a carefully planned sequence of events in every lesson. Sometimes the lesson may call for the unknown responses to lead the way, but I feel as though some of the best lessons are carefully sculpted to optimize the best results.